House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) earlier this week announced that Rep. Howard Coble (R-NC) will chair the subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property and the Internet. The Hill notes that this subcommittee is highly influential and has recently overseen a number of "hot button copyright and patent issues." Goodlatte formerly chaired this subcommitteee. Coble's vice chairman will be Rep. Rom Marino (R-PA).

This subcommittee will be overseeing the ongoing battle over Internet radio royalty rates. Goodlatte told reporters earlier this week that the subcommittee plans to hold multiple hearings this year on the music royalty issue, according to The Hill.

As previously reported, Pandora has been backing the Internet Radio Fairness Act (HR 6480), created by Reps. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) and Jared Polis (D-CO) and introduced in September, which would put Internet radio companies on the same royalty rates as cable and satellite radio stations. This would lower the fees that Pandora and its competitors pay out to artists and labels.